by Michelle Arch Last month I attended the Orange County Christian Writers Conference. Having attended the event previously in 2012, I had vacillated before registering earlier this year. My experience three years ago was a high point in my writing life, as an excerpt from my developing novel caught the attention of publishers and editors and won three fiction awards. …
Do Unto Others
By Tamara D. Fickas Do unto others. That was the devotional given by Beth Vogt one Saturday morning in our local ACFW meeting. She talked about what this looks like for writers. How if we want a mentor, we should be open to mentoring someone. And if we want to grow in our writing, we should be willing to help …
Three Writing Challenges That No Longer Scare Me
By Kathleen Y’Barbo This year, I celebrate fifteen years in as a published author and ten years with my fabulous agent, Wendy Lawton of Books & Such Literary Agency. Next year, in 2016, I will celebrate twenty years as a writer. I am closing in on sixty books published and two million books in print, and in a few days …
ACCEPTED!
By Marilyn Turk As writers, we long to hear or see that word. Our writing has been accepted – by an editor who wants to read it, a publisher who wants to publish it, or a reader who wants to read it. Too often, though, we hear the opposite along this path to publication. “Rejected” is not used so often …
Can You Make It to the End?
by Kathy Harris A few weeks ago, award-winning Hollywood director Alejandro Monteverde stood in front of a small gathering in Nashville, Tennessee to celebrate an advance screening of his film “Little Boy.” Monteverde told the audience that he had initially expected to complete his screenplay in three months. But, he confided, since the birth of the project he and his …
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity
by C.E. Hilbert “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. John 18:10 Some days you have to eat all of your brussel sprouts – and that stinks. Some day’s life stinks. It just does. You lose your job because …
The Rhino in the Writer: Thick Skin & the Value of a Critique Group
By Hannah Conway Join a critique group. Yes, that’s some of the soundest advice given to me regarding the wonderful world of writing. Yet, the next part of that advice? Well, it’s more on the strange side. Develop rhino skin. Join a critique group, and develop rhino skin. Let that sink in. I’ll wait while your nose finishes up that …
Love the WIP You’re With
By Sarah Hamaker The idea comes to you in a flash of brilliance. The plot, the setting, the characters all jumble together like a kaleidoscope of words just waiting to be brought into focus by you. You eagerly sit down in front of the computer, fingers poised over the keyboard and a fresh, blank document open on the screen. Is …
So What’s the Payoff?
by Kathy Harris “You could make a lot more money in a different career.” Those were the words of the industry professional who recently spoke at a local writers conference I attended. Everyone in the audience laughed and nodded knowingly. I suspect there were no millionaires in the room. If there were, it would be safe to say they hadn’t …
A Life of Writing
By Ramona Richards One of my favorite authors will turn 82 at the end of May 2015. He’s suffered a lot of illnesses lately, including a stroke. Yet he’s still writing and selling his work, marketing it on social media and YouTube. In October, another favorite will turn 77, and she still writes three books a year, doing so by …